LEARNINGconnections
Multidisciplinary 26, 30, 34
Apps 29
Digital Equity 31
Physical Education 34
Yes, Kindergartners Can Blog, and So Can Their Teachers!
Ithink it’s important to model using digital age tools to educate, engage, and enrich the learning of my
kindergarten students, their families, and others. And of all the digital
tools available to my young students,
blogging is my preferred platform for
helping them make global connections, collaborate, share, and reflect on
all that they are learning.
For me, it all started three years
ago when I took a workshop on blogging. At first, I had many questions:
What is it? How will it help me as a
teacher? And can kindergarteners
really do it? I never imagined that
a few years later I would be helping
students as young as 5 maintain their
own blogs as well as managing four
blogs of my own, including a class
blog, life studies blog, summer blog,
and a professional blog.
Class Blog
My class blog, Mrs. Davison’s Kindergarten ( davisonkindergarten.blogspot.com),
features a day-to-day snapshot of some
of the learning, connections, and observations that we experience in kindergarten. Geared toward parents, it features
all of my students engaged in a variety of
activities and includes photos and videos
that illustrate the learning that occurs.
The class blog gives parents an opportunity to talk to their children
about what they are exploring. I also
use it to keep a list of links to other
wikis and blogs that we use throughout the year, collaborations that are
happening within and outside of our
school, and educational resources for
parents. I also include dates of classroom and school events and activities
that kids and parents should be aware
of. I update this blog weekly.
Life Studies Blog
Our Life Studies Blog (davisonprojects.
blogspot.com) focuses on our exploration of the natural and physical
world. I originally created this blog
to highlight our parent-organized
science program, but it has evolved
into something much more. This blog
offers parents and their children opportunities to talk about the natural
world, make connections with some
of the things we discover in nature,
and spend time outside making some
of their own observations to share
with their classmates.
This blog also saves me time. After
creating pages for each of the science
themes we cover in kindergarten, all
I have to do is update the pages each
year with my current students. I update this blog monthly and whenever
we have a science presentation.
